Summer Serenade
by yufis
Summary: Rarely in our lives, we come across someone we treasure so dearly... A story of consideration, self-sacrifice and comfort. Hibird tells the story of how Hibari Kyouya came to put someone else before himself. Hibari x OC  Rating subject to change
1. Hibird: A Special Morning

******04/26/2012 Update:** I'll be honest, I was planning of ditching on my fics since I was having one of the biggest blocks of my life and I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to the recent KHR chapters for a while... But I got suckered back in by the Representative Battle ` v` I mean, who isn't curious about Col/Lal (okay, maybe a bit of personal bias on this one) or Reborn's past? And Dino as a teacher? Yesyesyesyesyes. Anyway, I didn't want to be like half of the authors on this site who drop out without giving their readers ay warning. It kind of doesn't feel fair to the people who are still favoriting and reviewing for Summer Serenade ; v; So thank you to all my readers old and new because your continued interests are what motivate me to continue writing m(_ _)m

**Note:** First KHR fic~ I recently started the series and have yet to get all up to date yet so this story should seem borderline au. Just think of it as taking place between the KHR arcs. Anyway, I'm never good with explaining things before hand so lets get right down to the story! Of course, we all know by now that I own nothing in the KHR universe except my own original characters. Enjoy and please leave me any thoughts or feedback!

# # # # #

Papa had been acting strange lately.

A girl moved into the empty room across from papa's window. She has long black hair like the woman holding papa as a child in the picture on his desk. I don't know the girl's name, I don't know if papa does either. She likes to keep her window open; I hear her sing sometimes and I like to sing along with her every now and then. Papa listens too. I think she's a little careless, the way she sometimes forgets to close her window at night. Papa watches her from time to time.

I was dozing comfortably at the edge of papa's desk when papa came back from his shower. With nothing but a bathrobe and a damp towel tossed over his head, he fell onto his back on his bed. He did that a lot lately, just lying down and staying still. I flew over to his shoulder and settled down comfortably to roost.

We passed a few minutes in silence, papa with his eyes closed peacefully as if he were asleep. It was the girl's voice that roused papa from his trance. She was humming but it sounded kind of sad, I wondered if she had a bad day. Papa stirred silently and slowly sat up. I hopped down onto the bed and snuggled right up to his side.

He had that look in his eyes again. That strange look I hadn't ever seen on papa's face before, it was an expression even I couldn't decipher. It was just strange to see papa like that.

Leaning his backside to the wall next to the curtained window, papa seemed to listen to the girl's music. I wondered why papa was so attentive when it came to the girl. She looked a little bit like the woman in papa's photograph; the woman who holds papa close in her arms, kissing the cheek of his sleeping face. She and the girl had the same flowing black hair and the same bright blue eyes.

For a long time after the girl left, papa didn't move a muscle. It was like him and not at the same time. Papa was a man of few words, he didn't waste any excess energy on anything either, but there was something different about this stillness.

"Noisy," papa stated evenly, but her song had long since ended and his tone lacked the usual sting.

# # # # #

Weekday mornings were all the same, but this one morning was special; because papa found the girl at his school. Papa and I had gone to our school early as usual and were simply in papa's office taking it easy before classes started—not that papa often went to classes (his teachers knew better than to question his less-than-consistent attendance). I was perched on papa's head, singing his favorite song for him (that's the Namimori Middle School anthem) when someone suddenly dared disturb papa's tranquility.

"Ah, sumimasen. I must have gotten the wrong room!" The female voice was eerily familiar, and papa recognized it too, for he suddenly opened his eyes—his expression unreadable as always. The girl with the blue eyes stood in the doorway of papa's office, looking very uncertain of herself. Had it been just any student stumbling into his office papa would have 'bitten them to death' but the girl with blue eyes was special.

"Never mind it," papa said as he waved her away and leaned back into his seat. She didn't leave as we were expecting she might, though. The girl lingered in the open doorway. Papa raised an eyebrow as she didn't disappear from his sight.

"Could you, by any chance, tell me where the vice principal's office is?" the girl asked cautiously. "I can't seem to be able to make sense of the school map I was given." She smiled shyly.

Papa smirked and let out a small scoff but rose to his feet nonetheless. Papa, could it be that you were actually pleased to have been asked such a thing? I hopped down onto his shoulder as he wordlessly made his way out to the hallway where the girl with blue eyes stood. The girl seemed slightly confused, I didn't blame her. Papa, why couldn't you simply verbally offer to help her? Did you really expect a stranger to understand each action?

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed in surprise as she pointed at his arm. I cocked my head and papa eyed the girl before glancing down at his arm. "You're a prefect, what luck!" The blue eyes girl looked straight at papa as she smiled.

Papa almost smiled back. Almost, but not quite. Of course, he didn't actually end up smiling back at the girl with blue eyes. His gray eyes were still stone cold as he simply closed the door behind him. "This way," he stated as he lead the way down the empty hallway. His silence must have unnerved the girl, for she didn't make a single squeak on the way to the vice principal's office.

I rode backwards on Papa's shoulder, to watch the girl. She kept a polite distance of an arm's length behind papa as they walked. It was my first time seeing her up so close; it must have been papa's first too. Her eyes seemed even bluer up close. It was a deep, dark blue like the evening sky. Pity I was the only who got to actually see her since papa was too busy leading the way. The girl had better be honored, having my papa escort her around our school like this.

As if finally noticing my observation of her, the girl with blue eyes gave me a small smile. I turned away not wanting to seem suspicious of anything. It wasn't as if I was being strange, it was just that papa's intrigue must have rubbed off on me—or at least, I would have liked to know what it was about the girl with blue eyes that made papa go all funny.

"Over there," papa said as he extended a finger in the direction of one of the doors along the wall. He didn't wait for her to thank him or anything; he just turned away and headed back to his officer.

"Thank you!" the girl with blue eyes called after us. We heard her, but we made no effort to let her know that we heard her thanks. What's the point? It's not as if she and papa would really get to know each other; papa never liked crowds.

Papa and I didn't need anyone else.

That's what I thought.

That morning sure was strange, though. Papa decided to grace his classmates with his presence for a change. He ordered me to stay out of his way so I flew out his office window and found the window next to papa's seat in class. I nestled myself down comfortably on the sill of the closed window where papa sat just a few inches away. I wondered what made today so special as I blinked lazily (it was so boring and tiring when I was separated from papa, I usually slept until his classes were over—or until papa felt like walking out on his teacher).

"Nice to meet you all, my name is Kuroyama Natsumi!" It was the girl with the blue eyes. I turned my head at the sound of her voice. She was suddenly popping up everywhere, this girl. "Uhh, well, I recently moved here from Fukoka and I really hope to fit in here," the girl said, introducing herself. Papa, could it be that you knew she would be here?

"You may take the empty seat over there," the teacher said as he pointed to the seat in front of papa. Well, this could be interesting. I swore, for a moment, papa smiled to himself.

The girl had a good personality and she soon made friends with a bunch of her new classmates. She didn't seem to recognize papa, but then again, he had his head buried in his desk—pretending to be asleep. I could tell he wasn't asleep though, my papa isn't one to let his guard down and just fall asleep like that. For some reason a part of me wanted to follow the girl with blue eyes and her new friends when they left for lunch, but I flew back to papa's office to wait as usual.

That's the day papa suddenly started going to classes more.


	2. Hibird: Eye to Eye

Our days went by relatively peacefully. Days passed just as they did before the girl with the blue eyes started coming to our school. Papa's habit of going to class was still somewhat irregular, but we're free souls—papa would never let anyone tie him down. Every now and then we would still take it easy in papa's office while classes were in session.

As for the girl with the blue eyes, she eventually realized that it was papa who sat behind her in class all along. She tried to be friendly for a first little while but her new friends seemed to have filled her in on papa's back story as of late; she doesn't acknowledge papa much other than looking slightly awkward and nervous when their yes meet. Too bad, and I thought she was something different from all the other girls too. I wouldn't dare let papa find out though; I love papa but sometimes I wish he has a pretty girl looking out for him like that guys whose name I keep forgetting (Herbivore, I think?). Papa isn't the type to like being taken care of, though. Papa hates the feeling of being indebted to someone.

I think she was scared of him. Papa isn't a bad man, though. She didn't know him well enough to tell, and I doubt papa was going to get close enough with her for her to know. Strangely, he hadn't changed. Papa still liked to watch the girl and listen to her voice. He often kept his window open too. In class his eyes were fixed on the back of the girl's head, she never seemed to notice though. Sometimes, I imagine the girl suddenly turning around and looking into papa's eyes and understanding everything. Papa isn't the type to so openly speak about himself; you were just expected to know.

And then it happened.

Papa was resting in the library after classes, it was quiet there and he wouldn't be bothered since it was a Friday afternoon. We thought everybody had gone home and papa had fallen asleep in his seat, arms crosses over his chest and his head limp against the back of the chair. The novel he had been reading was still open to the last page he read on his lap. I was sitting comfortably on papa's right shoulder, dozing off slightly.

Suddenly, when I opened my eyes, I found the girl with the blue eyes looking right at papa's sleeping face from across the room. When had she gotten in here? I wondered as I blinked lazily. She tilted her head slightly to one side as she silently inched closer. She gave me a small smile and wave as she noticed me looking at her (she often did the same every time she sees me outside the window next to papa's and her desks).

"I don't understand it," the girl (and I kept forgetting her name too) with the blue eyes mumbled to herself as she bent over so she was at eye-level with my sleeping papa. I wondered why he wasn't awake yet; papa was usually quick to know when he was being watched. Then she looked at me and said, "I can't imagine someone who so cherishes a cute little bird like you to be the fearsome person everybody seems to be saying he is."

This girl sure thought through her mouth, huh? She was a funny person, I liked her. I meant to tell her that she was right—that papa isn't a bad person at all—but I only managed a small chirp.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and let out a soft giggle. "You really are a precious little thing aren't you?" The girl then extended a finger toward papa's shoulder and I hopped on over to it. This girl didn't mean me any harm, what was the worst that could have happened? With a slim finger, she stroked the top of my head gently like papa did sometimes when he was in a good mood. I cheeped happily as I relaxed to her touch.

"I hear you singing sometime, you know?" I looked up at her inquisitively. "You live in the house next to mine, I hear you singing through the open window," the girl with the blue eyes explained as she rubbed me under my beak. Tee hee! That felt funny! "Oh, you like that, huh?" The girl grinned as she tickled me.

Papa suddenly groaned and opened his eyes. Papa's stone eyes were met with the girl's night sky irises and the two just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity to me. Papa then closed his eyes and shook his head as if he thought he was still dreaming, then rubbed his eyes and opened them again. Obviously, the girl was still standing before him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just talking to your bir—" the girl with the blue eyes winced and bit her tongue. "I mean, I wasn't conversing with you bird, I just—" She was stuck. I'm sure papa was just as inwardly amused as I was. "Your bird was so adorable, so… I… I'm sorry for disturbing you," the girl muttered as she hung her head. I flew back to papa as the girl dropped her hand.

"He doesn't care much for most people," papa mentioned as he let me perch on his right index and placed me on his shoulder. Bingo, it's not often someone piques my interest. One should be honored.

"He's aloof but he's got a sweet personality, then," the girl with the blue eyes said as she focused her gaze on me. Aww, she called me sweet. I chirped again and she smiled back at me. "You must be treating him well; he seems to be very attached to you." Of course, papa was my favorite person in the world!

Papa simply scoffed and opened his mouth to reply when his eyes met he girl's blue eyes and the two of them froze in place. Geez, Papa, acting all weird like this again… This time it was the girl with the blue eyes that broke away from the gaze. Nervously, she cleared her throat and looked away from papa. "I just came to check out a book, do you know if the librarian will be back anytime soon?" She refused to meet his eyes as she spoke, but papa was also staring down at the open book in his lap. They were both such strange people, these two.

"Unlikely," papa replied bluntly. It was true; the old man who was the school librarian was pretty scared of papa. He usually left the whole library to papa alone and vanished until papa and I would leave.

Awkwardly, the girl with the blue eyes nodded. Papa appeared to have resumed reading—his head hung over the words in his lap—but again, the girl didn't leave. "Hibari-san, am I right?" she inquired, cautiously as if she were still somewhat unsure of him.

"And you would be Kuroyama Natsumi from Fukoka who lives in the flat above the stationery shop in the North-West quarter of town," papa stated without looking up. Way to seem like a creeper, Papa… Or so I thought when the girl's expression lit up.

"Ah! You know me!" she exclaimed happily as she clapped her hands together.

"Don't we all?" Papa was a tad cryptic, but if this girl knew papa like I did, she would know he was complimenting her. She was popular; everyone wanted to know more about the new girl at Namimori, everyone was curious about the girl that suddenly transferred so close to the end of the school year, lots of people wanted to get their hands on the shiny new toy.

Suddenly someone else walked into the library—just full of interruptions, that afternoon was. It turned out to be some of papa's subordinates, the people with the big hair. The girl with the blue eyes looked slightly frightened for a moment but straightened herself up. "I suppose I'll try coming back to the library next week, then. It was nice talking to you, Hibari-san. We should talk more," she said with a smile as she slung her schoolbag over one shoulder and disappeared out the library door.

"As if I'd be caught dead conversing with an herbivore," papa muttered as he got up from his seat.

# # # # #

The next morning, the girl with the blue eyes walked to school with us. Papa and I had left early as always, it was our duty to make sure the rules at Namimori were well kept. We wouldn't ever allow for someone to disgrace the honor of Namimori Middle School. Sometimes we would stand at the school entrance and monitor who was getting to class on time, sometimes we just strolled around the school admiring the beauty of Namimori.

On our walk to the school, we suddenly heard someone scream from behind.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for you to fall!" a familiar voice sputtered out the words, fumbling and tripping over the syllables. Papa turned around, no doubt to point out the sound pollution, but he stopped short. It was the girl with the blue eyes and some boy on a bicycle. Or rather, the bicycle appeared to be the one on top of him now.

"Ah, no, I should have kept an eye out for anyone crossing the street before I turned," the boy with the bike replied as he got to his feet. Wincing slightly, he rubbed his back. "I'm really glad I didn't hit you, though!" Oh, but we knew this boy too, I recognized the baseball bat with him, he was that baseball frenzied guy that Herbivore knew!

"Yamamoto Takeshi," papa called his name as if in warning.

"Good morning, Hibari-san!" the tall boy grinned foolishly. This guy was so dense; I think he must be the only guy who can't feel papa's murderous intent.

"Ah, Hibari-san!" the girl with the blue eyes said, shortly after.

Papa made no attempt to acknowledge the girl and merely resumed, "Yamamoto, you nearly harmed a student of Namimori Middle School out of your own carelessness a mere two kilometers away from school grounds." You were just worried she might have gotten hurt.

The baseball guy merely laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Good thing I didn't end up hurting someone Hibari-san looks out for, huh?" Ooh, he did it now. Papa would never admit to caring for anyone, if this guy was saying stuff like that, even I wouldn't be able to stop papa's rage.

Then, the girl with the blue eyes let out a gentle laugh. "Hibari-san really is a nice guy, ne? Even how he treats his bird so well and how he helped me out when I got lost!" The baseball guy raised a brow; he knew papa wasn't the type to go about showing just anyone around the school.

"Yeah, Hibari-san sure is a nice guy!" He grinned like an idiot again. He was a smiling fool, always had that smile on his face, always being so optimistic. "Oh shoot, I'm going to be late! It was nice meeting you, Natsumi-san." Oh right, that was her name. Like summer, summer, summer. I never did have a talent for names. "See you around!" the baseball guy said as he got back on his bike.

"Eh? I never told him my name!" Natsumi said, her eyes wide.

Papa then pointed to the bottom right corner of her book bag where some words were stitched on—I can't read Kanji, I wouldn't have known what it said. "You're got it written." Oh, what a kind Samaritan you are today, papa; looking out for the girl that was nearly run over by a bicycle. Did she remind him of the woman in his photo?

"Oops, slipped my mind for a moment," Natsumi said with a sheepish smile. "Ah, you're going to school, right? Let's walk together!"

"Hmph."

It was the first time anyone wanted to walk to school with papa.


	3. Hibird: Small Animal

Over the last two weeks, papa and I started seeing Natsumi a lot more. She started walking to and from school with us a lot more, and papa tolerates her presence. It really is funny how he goes to great lengths not to acknowledge her too much during these walks with one-sided conversations (Natsumi talked a lot but she often talked by herself while papa barely made a peep, no pun intended) but he wouldn't leave her behind and would adjust his pace accordingly to hers. It's not often someone wants to be close to papa, and papa wasn't completely heartless to keep turning her away. Papa was cruel only to those who deserved it, but this girl was more like a small animal, or so he had said one night.

Papa and I were getting ready to go to sleep when we suddenly heard screaming from the open window across from papa's. Burning with curiosity, I flew over to the window sill and peered out at the opposite window.

"Nee-san, there's a spider in my room!" Natsumi squealed in fear as she stood on her bed with her back to us. She continued to scream her head off until her older sister came and squashed it dead for her. Her older sister made fun of her for being scared of bugs at her age. I heard papa let out a snicker too. I mean, even I don't get scared of bugs. "Stop waving it around!" the petrified girl yelped as her sister jokingly shook the dead spider in the napkin.

Papa was smiling to himself; she was a funny girl after all. I didn't think sixteen year old girls were that scared of spiders in this day and age. Then, as if he was afraid someone was watching his amused expression, he went expressionless as usual and said, "Such noisy neighbors."

"Natsumi, you'll wake the whole town up. At least, close your window!" Natsumi's older sister laughed as she closed her bedroom window for her. We couldn't hear them anymore but the sisters chatted a little longer before Natsumi's older sister—who looked kind of like Natsumi might in five or so years, with short hair and brown eyes—left her to sleep. The lights went out in her room shortly after.

"Being so easily frightened," papa mumbled as he closed his own window, "it makes her a lot like some small and defenseless animal." He made that small smile to himself again as he hit the light switch. "An herbivore," he added. Yeah, you just keep ruining things, papa. "Now, off to sleep for you, little one," papa said quietly as he slipped into his bed.

Obediently, I flew over to the open cage papa had gotten for me to sleep. It would be a school day the next morning, so it probably meant we'd see Natsumi on our way to school.

# # # # #

"Good morning, Hibari-kun!" Right on cue, Natsumi appeared from her house as we were about to pass by it. She had her hair curled today and she had her nails painted a nice peachy color. I didn't think she had a boyfriend—that would put my efforts of getting papa a special person in vain. I wondered what the occasion was. "Did you have a good sleep?" she asked, friendly as ever.

"Some neighbors were screaming last night, I didn't sleep a wink," papa lied bluntly in reference to the little ruckus over the spider last night. I would have laughed, but birds don't laugh. I just cheeped in what could have been taken as amusement or agreement.

Natsumi just stared for a moment before she seemed to remember. "Ah, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to be so loud," she apologized as she went pink in the cheeks. We were all quiet until we got to the first crosswalk.

"A spider, huh?" Oh, papa, you are so cruel. Natsumi's cheeks became a deep red as she looked down at her feet. Well, at least she knew it wasn't normal to be scared of spiders at her age. "What's the occasion?" Papa inquired coolly. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about how she was all dolled up.

"Oh, Kozue Aoi-chan from our class arranged a goukon* with some guys she knows from a nearby school so she wanted me to come along." Eeeeh? But it would wreck my agenda if Natsumi were to go and suddenly make a boyfriend or something. "I wouldn't have time to stop by at home between the end of school and the movie so I thought I might get up early to do my hair."

"Hmph. Crowding and moving in packs, I see," papa muttered in disdain.

"Geez, Hibari-kun." Natsumi laughed. I wondered if it was that she didn't take papa seriously or if she was really amused by his way of thinking. "Oh, did you start thinking about what you're going to do for the literature analysis project? Did you decide who you want for a project partner yet?" We got to school listening to Natsumi babble about schoolwork nonstop.

I quite enjoyed her chatter lately. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I don't dislike the easy silence when it's just me and papa, but Natsumi's happy nonsense was a nice change of pace from time to time. Of course, Natsumi was only usually with us during the commute to and from school. She wasn't someone papa would give the honor of calling his friend, per se. Well… not yet, anyway.

"I'll see you when class starts, Hibari-kun!" Natsumi waved as she vanished into the classroom.

Papa barely acknowledged her leaving as he continued to his office. In the conference room, papa pinned on his armband and sat down to look through some sheets of paper with messy handwriting. I think he said something about them being reports about the on goings of Namimori Middle School. Of course our first priority was, and always will be, maintaining the perfect order or Namimori Middle School. So, sometimes, it made it completely okay for papa to miss classes, you know? Since he was busy working for the better good of Namimori.

Papa finished up somewhat earlier than usual, that morning. I still can't decide if what happened from that was a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, some good came out of it…

I flew out to the windowsill next to papa's seat as usual and noticed something special today. Natsumi and that friend of hers she was talking about that morning were crowded by the guys of the class. It must have been how they were both all dolled up.

"The curls really look good on you," one of the boys said as he casually curled a lock of Natsumi's hair around his finger. "You should curl it more often, it's cute." Natsumi giggled nervously and blushed a bit as her friend agreed.

All papa had to do was walk in, to stop all the conversation. If this were any ordinary day, papa would have said something about their crowding. Instead, he walked right up to Natsumi (making the guy touching her hair step back) and said, "The Namimori Middle School dress code forbids alterations to the uniform skirt, yours is too short. Any dangling jewelry may not be worn during class hours, I expect you'll be taking off those earrings. Also, painted finger nails are needless luxuries that do not belong in a class room. The same goes for your hair, more so, it doesn't suit you."

What a cruel guy. I wonder why he couldn't just say he was jealous.

"New student or not, you are no exception to Namimori Middle School's order, Kuroyama. You will come see me in my office once classes are over." Oh, so that's what it was all about; it all clicked into place now. It was papa's sly and clever ploy of keeping Natsumi from going to see those boys from the other school. Papa, I never knew you had such a jealous bone in your body.

# # # # #

I was alone in papa's office waiting for papa to get back from having been called away to "discipline the rowdy Martial Arts club" (I suspect that those boys from the morning must have been conveniently and "coincidentally" a part of the Martial Arts club; papa is actually pretty transparent, you know) when Natsumi showed up. She had wrapped her sweater around her waist to compensate for the length of her skirt, had tied her hair up and papa confiscated her earrings.

"Hey there, pretty birdie," she greeted me with a smile. "Looks like Hibari-kun isn't here?" She looked tired for some reason. I flew on over to her shoulder and perched close to her face.

I hoped she didn't take what papa said too seriously. He just has a strange way of caring for people; like his special way of helping people without looking like it, as that Bucking Horse man said. Papa is straight-forward but he's got horribly round-about methods when it came to Natsumi. I had to make sure he didn't end up chasing her off or anything. I stood as tall as I could and snuggled up to the side of her face; she was so warm, just like papa.

Natsumi sat down in the leather sofa in front of papa's desk and told me a story about an ugly duck. I suppose she thought birds enjoyed stories about other birds? It was a nice story where the ugly duck actually grew up to be a beautiful swan aaaand I don't know the rest. See, near the end of her story, she was speaking more slowly and quietly until she closed her eyes and fell asleep. She was still sleeping when papa got back a few minutes later.

"Like I said," papa said with a knowing smirk. He sunk into the seat opposite from Natsumi's and got himself comfortable, with his fingers locked over his tummy and his ankles crossed one over the other on the coffee table. I flew over to his head and nestled into papa's hair. He let out a very quiet chuckle, the kind he only made when it was just the two of us and nobody was around. "Just like a small animal." And we know who has a soft spot for small animals.

I just may get my way with these two after all.

# # # # #

***Goukon:** A kind of group blind date which is popular in modern Eastern Asian culture.


	4. Hibird: Friendship?

So that incident where papa's temper flared against Natsumi passed. Well, it was just misdirected frustration, if you ask me. I mean, those boys are the one who got the beating in the end. Papa didn't wake Natsumi up, so she missed the goukon. Natsumi didn't show any signs of being too upset over the things papa had said earlier and he didn't speak of it. We all just walked home together as usual, as if nothing happened. Like the two had a silent agreement. I think they both knew that subject would break what peace they had.

Next morning, Natsumi's hair was down straight, she had swapped her earring for small silver studs, her nail polish was wiped clean and her skirt was magically longer again (I was more surprised papa could tell it was any shorter at all). Again, they acted as if the last day never happened.

There was one thing changed from that incident though. The boys in class started to stay away from Natsumi, and they sometimes even whispered things behind her back. If I were one of Natsumi and papa's classmates, I would have noticed something too; walking to and from school together almost every day and how the guys flirting with Natsumi were all conveniently hospitalized the next day. Even if papa pretended to ignore her all the time, it's not as if Natsumi being so friendly to him might let the others think they were just strangers.

That's how it all started.

Slowly, some of the girls started alienating Natsumi too. Not a lot of people respected what it was that papa did. People started to vaguely associate Natsumi with the Namimori Disciplinary Committee. It was what I was hoping to achieve and not at the same time. Being close to papa was pushing Natsumi away from everyone else. I don't really want Natsumi to lose all her other friends but Papa needs a special person who will stick with him even when he can be pretty nasty. He really wasn't as horrible and terrifying as everyone thought; nobody knew him like I did, is all.

If it could be any consolation, the rest was headed in a good direction. With few real friends left, Natsumi sort of hung around with us more. She had lunch with us on the roof from time to time and just hung around in papa's office every now and then. I guess, somewhere inside, papa must have realized it was partly his doing that made people leave Natsumi. It made him run away a little less. Or rather, it made him look over his shoulder and slow down so she could keep up even while he pretended to be getting away.

# # # # #

"Sleeping again, Hibari-kun?" I had committed this voice to memory now. I chirped and hopped on the spot on papa's head to turn to face the familiar face. Lunch breaks were peaceful up on the roof, not busy like where boys played soccer on the field or noisy like where girls chattered in classrooms. It was no wonder someone like papa would spend time up here alone.

Papa stayed still, his back resting against the outside wall of the building, eyes of his hung head closed in rest and his book still open to the last page in his hand. When she sat down on the empty spot next to him, I flew over to Natsumi's shoulder and snuggled up to her warmth. She felt warmer than papa, and softer. Maybe girls were all just soft and warm?

"Hibari-kun, lunch break is almost over," Natsumi said as she petted the top of my head. When he didn't respond, she sighed and leaned back comfortably against the wall. "Sleeping all the time, I wonder what you do at night when normal people are asleep," she mumbled as she carefully tugged papa's book out of his relaxed hand.

"Why are you here?" papa demanded evenly as he finally opened his eyes. He stared down at his empty hand for a moment before raising it only to stifle a yawn.

"Lunch break is going to end any minute now; we should get back to class," the girl replied as she held papa's book up before her face. "Wow~ As expected of the head of the prefects! I don't understand a word of this book," she said with a laugh as she placed the book face down next to her. I didn't think that was anything for her to be so proud of though.

The bell rang.

"Kuroyama, you are now late to class." Papa closed his eyes again.

"Well, then maybe the head prefect should set a good example for me," she mused, smiling. It was unlike papa to go easy on someone just because of their gender, but he had a soft spot for this girl… because she was just a small animal to him. "Shouldn't the head prefect have a flawless attendance or something?"

This was usually when papa would threaten to bite her to death if she doesn't abide to Namimori Middle School regulations; papa was the only one allowed to miss classes because he felt like it. "Why are you here?" he asked again. Papa lifted his head and opened his eyes again slowly, his gaze fixed on the forms of clouds passing over head.

"Hm?" Natsumi looked up from her finger nails. "Since we're friends, and friends are bound to worry when the other shows no signs of showing up to cla—"

Papa cut her off, "Hmph, I don't remember making friends with someone like you." Aloof as ever, aren't you papa? To be honest, I was happy that he had someone as stubborn Natsumi who wanted to be friends with him so much. "Stop crowding me," papa muttered as he stretched out his legs and crossed one over the other.

"I think you got that wrong," Natsumi said with a small grin as she placed me in her palms. I snuggled in to her cupped hands and puffed up my down for warmth.

Papa shot her a strange look when she called him out on being wrong.

"I'm pretty sure the phrase goes 'two's company but three's a crowd'. So, we're safe!" What a strange girl, I thought happily as I relaxed in her hands. Even papa let out a small laugh. "Ohhh! Just now, you laughed! Didn't you, Hibari-kun?" Natsumi asked excitedly.

His face apathetic and bored again, papa turned back to face the sky. "Hmph. Clearly, you can't tell the difference being laughed with and being laughed at," was his blunt reply.

Natsumi just smiled to herself pulled her knees up to her chest. "It's nice and warm out," she mumbled quietly, blinking slowly. She yawned into her shoulder and said, "I think I can see why you two like it up here so much." She wasn't expecting a reply, and papa didn't give one. In what seemed like a matter of seconds her breathing slowed and we could hear the soft exhales as she slept.

"Only a foolish herbivore like you would fall asleep like that," papa muttered as he peeked over at her sleeping face. Papa extended a finger to me and I quickly hopped out of Natsumi's slipping hands. It wasn't the first time I would have been doomed if I couldn't fly. Natsumi's dropped me before too…

On papa's shoulder, I didn't make a peep as Natsumi slept. Papa was wide-awake but it wasn't as if he was in a hurry to get to class or anything. More like, it's not as if papa would; 1) wake Natsumi up, or 2) go to class without Natsumi.

Then she suddenly almost squished me this time. Natsumi's head suddenly dropped sideways onto papa's shoulder where I sat, and I almost fell off when her head suddenly came out of nowhere. Safely retreated to papa's head, I calmed myself and settled in comfortably in papa's hair. Papa took a single finger and slowly pushed Natsumi's head back so it was against the wall—but it slipped again.

And papa gave in to the weight of her head resting on his shoulder. "At least support the weight of your own head," he mumbled as he crossed his arms.

# # # # #

Somehow, Natsumi won and got papa to be her partner for their Literature Project. Or rather, papa let her win; besides, it wasn't as if papa was too fond of any of his other classmates. Of course, it was a good thing for me too. It meant we would see Natsumi more outside of class time. Papa originally wanted to divide the work but she insisted on working together and invited herself over (I mean, I would invite her if she understood my chirps) to our house on Saturday.

Papa even got up early to clean his room and he even considered wearing something other than his school uniform for a minute. Of course, he just decided to stick with the uniform of his beloved school. Don't get me wrong, papa, but you could at least try to look nice. I liked how papa fretted checking on the contents of his fridge. He snapped at me for watching, though. He was definitely stressing. It was sort of a good thing; it meant Natsumi coming over had some meaning to him—but checking on the fridge… That was still somewhat weird.

Of course, it made sense later.

"It's already seven and we hardly chose a subject," Natsumi whined as she stretched her arms over her head. They made me sleepy with talking about the book they were reading, some story about a prince with many love affairs (including one with a young girl and one with his father's concubine—yuck). "Maybe we should just do the rest tomorrow; I should probably get home for dinner."

Dinner. Bingo.

"Stay," papa gave the command as he held out his hand, as if Natsumi was his pet dog.

Wide-eyed, Natsumi sat still as papa disappeared around the corner into the kitchen. I looked up at Natsumi, mirroring her curiosity, as rustling noises came from the kitchen. I cocked my head from side to side, mimicking Natsumi as we heard various noises from the kitchen. With a worried look on her face, Natsumi extended her finger out to me.

"Should we go check on your papa?"


	5. Hibird: Holding Hands

"Hibari-kun?" Natsumi called out cautiously as we poked our heads over the corner and into the kitchen. Papa had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he held a carrot under running water. He turned his head to face us.

"I told you to stay where you were," papa said as he turned back toward the sink.

Natsumi briefly made a face at the back of his head, but soon relaxed her expression. With a small sigh, she gathered her hair and tied it in a side ponytail by her right ear. "What's for dinner?" she asked as she hopped over to the kitchen counter next to papa. She took a quick look at the various ingredients lying out on the counter and ventured a guess, "Hmm, chahan?"

Papa gave a deliberate blink as his only response.

"Okay, I'll start chopping the vegetables you finish washing!" Natsumi said enthusiastically as she rolled up the sleeves of her cardigan. Before papa could say anything, Natsumi placed an onion on the wooden cutting board and picked up the knife—then she started humming to interrupt anything papa might try to say. She knew him almost as well as I did, now. I puffed up my down feathers smugly.

I thought I saw papa try and hide a smile.

It was kind of fun preparing dinner together. I mean, it wasn't something I was used to since papa and I lived alone for the time being. Papa isn't a bad chef, but Natsumi had some funny tricks she suggested to papa; like something about beating the egg with olive oil and sesame seeds and frying it with the rice. Papa stood close behind her and watched with a strange expression of uncertainty the whole time she did that. He had nothing to worry about, though, it ended up tasting delicious. The two of them even did the dishes together—and papa didn't even put up a fight! See? My papa isn't such a bad guy like some people tend to think.

"Can I see your room?" Natsumi suddenly asked with a big grin as she finished putting away the last of the plates. I kind of liked spending more time with Natsumi; it would be nice if she stayed a little longer. I turned my head toward papa's face to check his reaction. He was pretty tame when it came to dealing with Natsumi; he let her get away with tons of things without looking like he favored her over anyone else at all.

"I don't see any reason why I should have to show you my room," papa stated bluntly as he dried his hands on the towel hanging from the lower cabinet. He closed the cabinet door over Natsumi's head and walked briskly past her back to the living room area. "A no is a no," he reinstated firmly as he eyed the pout on her face. Well, I figured as much. I mean, papa was a pretty private person, I didn't think he had opened up to Natsumi that much yet. Quietly, we had all settled back down at the table… and everyone was so quiet for a long time.

The two of them just sat there looking down at their books from opposite sides of the table. They didn't look up once and they didn't make eye contact. Was it just because papa said she couldn't go in her room? I mean, if Natsumi was disappointed I would understand but wasn't this kind of awkwardness just a little too much? So, Natsumi was a little… what's the word? Shallow?

Just then, Papa broke the silence with a strange question that seemed to have some out of nowhere, "Why are you here?"

"Huh?" I was confused as well, it was obvious. "Because we're working on the literature project togeth-"

Papa suddenly cut her off with a tired look as he said, "I don't mean my home." I was waiting for him to explain what he meant, but I'm not a mind reader, papa didn't say anything else and I still had no idea what he was asking.

But Natsumi apparently did. "Well," she started with a strange look I couldn't decipher, "I can't go into details, but I'll just tell you that some… bad things happened at my last school." She smiled but it was an unusual smile that made her look sad even though she was smiling. She let out a small, muted chuckle before she said, "It's something I wish I could forget."

"Hmph, a herbivore that let itself get bullied," papa scoffed as he flicked his head to the side. You felt bad for her, didn't you, papa? You pitied her, weren't you? Was it because you were making her go through the same things again? "Go home. I have no business with you." Ever the frank one, aren't you, papa?

I expected the clingy Natsumi to put up more of a fight instead of leaving, but she got up without a single complaint. With a polite smile, she gathered her things and silently placed them back in her bag. "I'll write the character analysis for Monday. I guess I'll see you at school. Thanks for having me over." And she was out the door. Nice going, papa… Way to make things awkward all over again. Couldn't you have thought of how hard I was trying too?

# # # # #

We didn't see or hear from Natsumi for the remainder of the weekend. She didn't even pull back her curtains or open her window. I only hoped things would have been better by Monday – but Monday morning came and Natsumi was nowhere to be seen on the way to school. Papa pretended not to notice as he silently walked to school alone. Everything was as they were before Natsumi came to Namimori. We went to papa's office like always, and we went to monitor school grounds like always.

And like always, girls were gossiping.

The usual papa would have simply breezed right past the two girls but the subject of their conversation stopped us. "My cousin goes to that school and he told me Kuroyama Natsumi got chased out!" the short-haired girl said with a knowing grin. Her friend, a short girl with dyed blonde hair looked up at her eyes wide in surprise and curiosity.

"Eh? How?"

"Everyone knew how she hooked up with her friend's boyfriend behind her back, so they started to outcast her and of course she'd run away with her tails between her legs!"

"No way, that is so low! Geez, I'm glad my boyfriend doesn't even go to Nami Chuu."

"Yeah, well she's like friends with that Hibari, right? Like any sane guy is going to want to get together with her," that first jeered as she waved a hand nonchalantly. "I mean, she may be pretty but it's pretty much safe to say that no guy in his right mind is going to try anything with that demon arou-"

His face devoid of emotion, papa turned the corner of the hall and walked right past the two girls, only to stop a few feet past them. I didn't have to see expression to know papa wasn't very happy. "Namimori regulations prohibit the dying of hair in visibly light shades," he said monotonously. "The dress code also prohibits any dangling accessories that may get in the way of school activities," he paused as if waiting for something – and the bell rang, right on cue. "Rules also prohibit loitering about once class has started. I don't care if you are male or female, I'll bite you to death."

But the two girls were already running halfway down the hallway. Maybe he should have reminded them running in the halls and disrupting the classes in session wasn't allowed either. What they had said about Natsumi, was it true? It didn't seem like the Natsumi we had gotten to know. I didn't like it, but mostly because I wasn't sure if they were true or not. With a small scoff papa simply walked on towards the rooftop like he always did.

Only we found someone there before us. Sitting at the far end with her back to the fence was a familiar girl with black hair and blue eyes. Natsumi had made it to school after all. Papa never lost composure as he approached the distracted figure. "Well, aren't you turning into quite the truant?"

She finally looked him in the eyes and smiled almost mockingly as she rebutted, "It's not as if you go to class when you don't feel like it." It's not as if she was wrong, either. "I'm just not in the mood for school today," Natsumi said as she made a face at the sky.

"Hmph." Papa turned away and crossed his arms as he leaned his back against the fence.

It was nice and breezy out. I wanted to fall asleep but I had to make sure all that tension between Natsumi and papa had died down.

"You asked why I'm here, right?" Papa opened his mouth to speak but Natsumi continued, "I did something rotten at my old school. I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway. I was so jealous."

Then what the girls said was…?

"There was this boy that I liked and all my friends knew it. Everyone around me told me that he liked me too and that I should try asking him out, but I learned that one of my friends was going out with him."

"I'm not interested," papa said bluntly, but he probably just wanted to save her the trouble. Or maybe, he was just afraid to know the truth like me.

"Well, you don't have to listen. I just want to get something off my chest is all," the dark-haired girl tugged at a lock of her hair. "I hated her so much at that time that I didn't care what I was doing, I convinced the boy to go out with me and cheat on my friend. I thought he would pick me instead, but when it came down to it he went back to his girlfriend… and well, obviously, things didn't go to well from then on," she said letting out a sheepish laughter. Papa didn't say anything. I flew over to Natsumi's lap and snuggled up against her to try and comfort her. 'It's human, right? To be jealous. So, it's okay,' I wanted to tell her but all that came out was a single, sad chirp.

I wondered what papa was thinking, it wasn't often that I couldn't read papa's emotions like this. Suddenly he grabbed Natsumi by the wrist and pulled her along behind him as he went back into the school building. In the flurry, I hopped on up on to the girl's shoulder and mirrored her quizzical looks and papa took us down the hall. It wasn't until he got to his classroom that I understood what was going on. I flew off Natsumi's shoulder to go sit on the outside of her and papa's window – and papa suddenly changed his grip to hold Natsumi's hand.

"Hibari-kun?"

Papa loudly opened the classroom door and pulled Natsumi in with him. "We apologize for being late to class," he said to the teacher – who looked just as dumbfounded as their classmates. I would be shocked too, I mean, the scary head of the disciplinary committee showing up to class holding hands with the new girl? Yep, that'd be a sight to see. Without once paying attention to the dozens of eyes fixed on his and Natsumi's joined hands, papa briskly walked up to his desk.

Now that was more like the papa I wanted to see.


	6. Hibird: Wild Stallion

**04/26/2012 Update:** I'll be honest, I was planning of ditching on my fics since I was having one of the biggest blocks of my life and I couldn't bring myself to pay attention to the recent KHR chapters for a while... But I got suckered back in by the Representative Battle ` v` I mean, who isn't curious about Col/Lal (okay, maybe a bit of personal bias on this one) or Reborn's past? And Dino as a teacher? Yesyesyesyesyes. Anyway, I didn't want to be like half of the authors on this site who drop out without giving their readers ay warning. It kind of doesn't feel fair to the people who are still favoriting and reviewing for Summer Serenade ; v; So thank you to all my readers old and new because your continued interests are what motivate me to continue writing m(_ _)m

On a side note: enter "Jumping Horse Dino" LOL

# # # # #

I was singing in delight as I watched everyone eye papa and Natsumi carefully as he let go of her hand and seated himself. I almost felt mean, being so happy when Natsumi was as red as a tomato—but this is all for her own good too, after all. Way to go, papa! I puffed up my chest feathers in pride as I settled down to roost on the windowsill. I let out a happy whistle as Natsumi kept stealing glances at papa, unable to keep herself from fidgeting with her pencil. It'd be nice if she could quickly forget about what happened at her old school.

Papa didn't once meet here eyes, however, as he continued to stare out the window. I hoped Natsumi didn't take his embarrassment the wrong way and thought he was avoiding her or being cold. It was unlike papa to have done something like that; it was a spur of the moment kind of thing for him (but if I left those two on their own, things would never get anywhere).

Natsumi suddenly stood up, her chair squeaking loudly against the floor. Her face was bright red as she unconvincingly held her stomach and said, "I'm not feeling very well."

The teacher only took a short look at her red face before agreeing, "You do look like you might have a bit of a fever. Why don't you go to the nurse's office?" Apologizing for disrupting the class, Natsumi didn't even push her chair back in or spare a glance at anything other than the door as she ran out. I wanted to frown, but birds don't have lips, I just let out a discouraged coo. It seemed like papa had made her more embarrassed than I thought he did. I flew off to go find her and try to find out what Natsumi was thinking. Which way was the infirmary again..?

It took me forever but I managed to find the infirmary window. Natsumi was lying on her side on the bed, staring at her left hand like a zombie. I glided down onto her shoulder and chirped.

"Hn? Oh, hey you," she said with a smile as she sat up and placed me on her lap. She pet my head softly with her fingers like she always did, and I cooed as I closed my eyes. She seemed alright. "He sure does some hard to understand things, doesn't he?" she mumbled to nobody in particular, and I looked up confused by her question. Noticing me staring at her, Natsumi just waved it off with a light chuckle. "Just speaking to myself," she assured me as picked me up in her palm.

Suddenly, the infirmary door slid open and a blonde man hopped in on one leg and clutching the other knee. He groaned in pain as he hopped around clumsily. Natsumi and I watched as he suddenly lost his balance and planted his face on the laminate flooring. Ouch. What a klutz.

Natsumi covered her mouth but I could hear the stifled giggle from behind her fingers. "Are you alright?" she asked the man as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked up to the man. The man mumbled incoherently into the ground before pushing himself back up. "That looked... painful."

The man laughed nervously as he got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Oh wait, I knew this guy. What did they call him again? Jumping Horse Dino? Yeah, something like that. Anyway, wild stallions like him were dangerous! They might be stupid but they're good looking, and those types seemed to be popular with girls around Natsumi's age. I settled myself down firmly on Natsumi's shoulder and glared at the foreign man before us. What was he doing here? And why was he dressed like that? He was even wearing glasses. Bad disguise?

"N- no, I'm fine!" Dino insisted as Natsumi offered to call the nurse for him. His forehead was red where he had hit it on the ground and he was still standing mostly on one leg. He really was useless without those suited people nearby. "I just wanted to familiarize myself with the school is all," he said unconvincingly as he smiled. Then suddenly, his eyes catching sight of me, he pointed (how rude!) and said, "Eh? Isn't that Kyouya's bird?"

Natsumi looked confused as she tilted her head sightly and placed me in her palm. "Oh, are you an acquaintance of Hibari-kun's?" I wouldn't really say that.

Dino looked equally confused as I sat still letting Natsumi pet my head. "He must really trust you if his bird follows you around like this," he mumbled, scratching his head. Natsumi was special, of course. I puffed out my chest proudly. "Oh, sorry, my name's Dino," the blonde said with a grin. "I'm Kyouya's kateikyoushi." Oh, sure you are...

"Ehh, is that right?" Natsumi completely believed him. He wasn't any sort of mentor to my papa at all! "My name is Kuroyama Natsumi, I'm Hibari-kun's classmate and neighbor," she introduced herself with a polite smile.

The blonde suddenly made an expression as if someone turned on a light bulb in his head. "Actually, Natsumi-chan, do you think I could have a word with you?" Eh? This could be dangerous. "I've been having trouble with getting Kyouya to listen lately, so I was thinking maybe his friend might have some ideas," Dino explained with a smile.

Suspicious. Was he trying to use Natsumi as some sort of bargaining chip? I eyed him suspiciously.

Before Natsumi even pieced her thought together, Dino took her by the shoulders and started leading her out of the infirmary. "Why don't we talk over lunch? Ah, it's great I was able to run into such a good friend of Kyouya's today," he said in relief. I wished Natsumi would turn him down but she was completely carried away by his pace as the stranger started asking for her preferences in restaurants. Clearly, I couldn't depend on Natsumi here. I needed to find papa. Quickly, I launched off from Natsumi's shoulder and back toward the classroom.

What was she thinking, following a stranger because he offered to buy her dinner? Maybe pretty boys really did work better on girls her age. This is why wild stallions like that man were a threat.

# # # # #

If I think about it now, I'm not sure if it would have been easier stopping Natsumi from leaving than it was to get papa to understand what kind of trouble was happening. Papa was surprisingly out of it since what he did that morning. He actually managed to walked two doors past his office before turning back around and I had to fly circles around his head before he started paying me any attention.

"What's with you?" he muttered as he watched me as if he was convinced I was ill. Natsumi, how could I get that message across? I looked around his office for anything that might remind him of Natsumi. Nothing. Horse? What about a horse? Was there anything I could use to make him think of the Jumping Horse guy? Just then, the door burst open and a familiar brown haired guy fell in.

Papa hadn't even done anything but the boy just looked up at him and yelped. "Hiiiiiiieeeeeee! Hibari-san!" What was the Herbivore doing here? Didn't he realize time was of the essence right now? I had more important things for my papa to do than to clean out weaklings. Papa narrowed his eyes at the boy on the ground. "I'm probably bothering you from your work, right? I should go. Yeah, I'm going," he said, tripping all over his words as he turned for the door. Suddenly the door opened again and something went flying into the boy's face. It was that weird baby with the sideburns. The day was just full of interruptions, didn't they realize what an important time this was?

"That's no good, Tsuna," the baby said as he pinched the Herbivore's cheek forcefully. "Don't forget you came here to look for Dino."

Yes! Him! As soon as the name was out of the baby's mouth, I started chirping loudly and flapping my wings violently for my papa's attention. That name! That name! It was him, he was the one who took Natsumi!

"Of course if the rumors are true, he really isn't at the school anymore." The baby then turned to acknowledge papa and said, "Ciaossu, Hibari. We're looking for Dino but it doesn't seem like he's here." I started flying circles around papa's head again. Yes! Dino! That man! The Jumping Horse! Papa stared at me with a frustrated and confused scowl on his face.

The brown haired Herbivore rubbed his cheek and stood up. "If you knew he wasn't here then why did you make me look for him, really, Reborn," he grumbled.

"I heard a foreign man took a girl out of the school," the baby gave a nonchalant shrug, "but I thought a student of mine would know better than to pick up middle school girls like that." He then looked right at my papa for a second. I took the chance to make more noise as I pecked at papa's sleeve. We couldn't stay here, we had to go look for her! Geez, papa, you didn't really want all my effort to go down the drain, did you? And they had made such good progress.

As if having finally pieced together my erratic behavior and the baby's words, papa stood up and briskly walked out of his office ignoring both the baby and the Herbivoire on his way out. "Which way?" he asked me as he walked hurriedly down the corridor. I chirped, happy he finally understood and flew off his shoulder to lead the way. I had recognized the name of the restaurant Natsumi mentioned on her way out, she tried to make papa stop by there with her on our way home once but papa hates crowded places.

It was close to the school and they were still eating by the time papa arrived. Natsumi was just smiling having lunch and talking with Dino. Didn't her parents teach her not to follow strangers? Where would she be if papa and I weren't here?

"Wao, what kind of joke is this?" papa demanded with a smirk. "Abducting a student of Namimori right from the school infirmary? It's as if you've come looking for a fight," he said as his hands gripped his tonfas. I flew over to the patio table and perched on Natsumi's shoulder.

Dino staggered to his feet and waved his hands in front of him frantically. "Now, now, Kyouya, I didn't abduct anyone!" he said with a nervous chuckle. "I just wanted to have a chat with Natsumi-chan is all, isn't that right?"

Natsumi looked confused but nodded anyway. "He just bought me lunch and asked about how you were doing," she explained, backing up Dino's claims.

"Come on, Kyouya, put those things away," the man suggested, looking anxious as his eyes fixed on papa's hands. "This isn't something for a lady to see," he said, motioning to Natsumi still sitting in her chair looking lost. He was using Natsumi as a bargaining chip after all. Coward.

Papa's eyes wandered to Natsumi's face for an instant before he shot another murderous look to Dino. With a snort as he relaxed his stance and turned sharply on his heels. "I'm leaving." The old papa wouldn't have cared who was watching as long as he got his fight. It made me feel proud of him to see he was considering Natsumi's presence more now. Besides, it would have been bad if papa managed to scare Natsumi away after everything I worked so hard for.

Natsumi suddenly hopped to her feet. "Ah, wait for me!" she called as she took her sweater from the back of her chair. "Thank you for the lunch, Dino-san. It was nice meeting you," she said with a wave as she jogged after papa. Once she had all caught up, I hopped up over onto papa's shoulder instead. "I really did say I would come with him," Natsumi reinstated, backing up Dino again.

"I don't care," said the man who didn't waste a split second to run out in search of the girl who was seemingly kidnapped.

Natsumi didn't looked convinced but she kept up quietly. "But you know, I didn't know Hibari-kun had such a charming kateikyoushi," she said with a harmless smile. I thought my little bird heart stopped for a second.

Papa didn't even spare her a glance. "Perhaps you should have stayed behind, that weakling loves crowding around like you do," he said, but his words didn't carry the usual venom. He almost sounded tired to me.

Natsumi shook her head. "Not when someone came all this way to pick me up," she reasoned with a smile.

I felt relieved, maybe Natsumi had a bit more of a tunnel-vision than I thought she did... But that's a good thing! We don't need other people. With papa, Natsumi and I, we'd be perfectly fine.


End file.
